Latham & Watkins has officially confirmed that seven lawyers from the corporate team of rival international firm Allen & Overy have joined the firm.

Last October, ALB reported that Michael Liu, Stanley Chow, Simon Berry, Kenneth Chan, Cathy Yeung, William Woo and Jane Ng will all join Latham & Watkins' HK office and allow the firm to offer US, HK and English law advice.
 
Robert Dell, the firm's chairman and managing partner, said that the move will allow the firm to pick up work from the expected rise in Asia-related corporate transactions once the global economy stabilises.
 
The team have been together for over ten years and between them have acted on some of China's most lucrative deals, including the merger of the HK stock exchange with the futures exchange and the three clearing houses in Hong Kong (and the subsequent listing of the newly merged entity on its own exchange), the A+H share listing of the Bank of China, China Life Insurance's mega NY and HK listing, the tendering and award of the concessions to construct the seven key facilities for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the partial privatisation of Shenzhen Water Company (the largest foreign investment in China's water sector).
 
Partner David Miles has also relocated to Hong Kong from the London office as part of the reshuffle. Last month ALB reported that the firm had elevated three of its lawyers to the partnership, including Eric Barbier de La Serre in Brussels, Juan Manuel in Madrid and Daiske Yoshida in Tokyo.